RISE25 - May 2021

RISE25 - May 2021

rise25.com

PROFITABLE CONNECTIONS

May 2021

How Moms Rock the Mic

Learning From The Busiest People Around ... Our Women Podcast Hosts

May is here, and that means it’s nearly Mother’s Day! At Rise25, we’ve been lucky enough to work with many hardworking moms who lead their own podcasts with us. (And our team, the majority of whom are women, includes many awesome moms!) Mothers make incredible sacrifices all the time, and there’s something to be said about mothers who have to juggle their professional and home lives. To celebrate these superstars, we asked them a couple questions. First, we know how important it is for moms to maximize their time. We asked how hosting a podcast has helped them with their daily work-life balance — because if you do it right, a podcast will save you time. Second, we asked them what legacy or message they would like their podcast to leave behind. We believe a huge benefit of creating content is creating a legacy for yourself, and we were curious what lessons these highly skilled mothers had for us. Here’s what they shared with us. “Having a podcast allowed me to connect with great people, give them an opportunity to tell their story, and give myself the opportunity to share that information with my listeners and my mailing list. [My listeners share my message, which is] the importance of having great management systems in order

“In order to find time to explore my passions and build connections, my podcast has been an amazing outlet. It’s relieved stress for not only me but also my mom. We have both really enjoyed being able to work on this fun project while simultaneously creating future opportunities and building my resume. My mom has always worked hard to ensure I succeed, and it feels great that my podcast gives me the opportunity to give back to her. “Being only 16 years old, I seek female mentors who can share their wisdom on succeeding in this world. One of my biggest role models is my mom, and she has always encouraged me to chase after my dreams, no matter how big they are. I will admit that sometimes, I doubt myself, and in the back of my mind, I don't think I can succeed, but my podcast has changed my mindset entirely. “Doing a podcast and speaking with female leaders has allowed me to visualize my future career path and life goals. I truly value learning about the struggles and challenges my interviewees had to face in order to find the light at the end of the tunnel.” —Meredith Syms, “Sports Up” We’ve really loved hearing these stories, and we hope that these ladies inspire you as much as they inspire us! Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next month. Dr. Jeremy Weisz & John Corcoran

to be able to scale and succeed.” —Adi Klevit, “Systems Simplified”

"I founded my business the same year I first became a mother, and I don't know one of those experiences without the other. To me, being pregnant and bringing life into this world has only added to my entrepreneurial confidence in being able to give life to a business, to love and nurture it, and to watch it gain independence and strength." —Alexi Cashen, “The Alexi Cashen Podcast” As a special feature, this next client is a high school student who is an aspiring sports broadcaster who learned many lessons from her mom. She is our youngest podcast host!

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Confidence Is Key

When You Want Every Decision to Be a Touchdown

If you’re a business owner, you’ve no doubt faced hard decisions. And when we say “hard decisions,” we don’t mean the ones you make on a daily basis. We’re talking about make-or-break decisions that have serious long-term consequences. Choosing the right path forward could mean years of business growth, but choosing the wrong path could be the death knell. With stakes that high, decision-making may not feel that exciting. The prospect of making difficult choices leaves many business owners understandably in a state of paralysis. You may stop and ask yourself: Am I making the right call? What if this endangers the livelihood of my business and my employees? This paralysis is normal, but it can prevent you

from making the moves your business needs to survive. Luckily, however, you can change this initial reaction. According to David Meltzer’s book, “Game- Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies From the Biggest Names in

yourself with people who support you and trust your judgment. Just like having an all-star team that trusts your judgment in the game, having friends and colleagues who affirm your decisions goes a long way toward building your confidence. It’s also important to have a positive mindset. It’s tempting to expect the worst from any decision you make, but according to Meltzer, the most confident decision-makers are those who have a positive outlook on the future. This makes sense, considering how challenging it is to move forward with a decision when negative thoughts are clouding your judgment. After all, no one ever made a game-winning touchdown after imagining all the ways they might fail to do so! While reading books like “Game-Time Decision Making” can certainly help you become a more confident decision-maker when everything is on the line, the fact is that confident decision-making comes with time and practice. So, if you want to be ready to beat the buzzer on your next tough decision as a business owner, surround yourself with a team that supports your call. Let their confidence in your leadership inspire your abilities, and remember: Don’t let thoughts about how your decision could go wrong stop you from making any decision at all. Maintain a positive outlook, put together an all-star team, and you’ll be making confident decisions in no time.

Sports,” you can be ready to make hard decisions before the buzzer signals the

end of the game. As Meltzer’s book title suggests, decision- making in sports parallels decision-making in business. Business leaders can learn lessons from the court, field, or rink, even if they’re just sitting courtside. The biggest lesson is that confidence is key. But having confidence in your decisions — especially ones with serious consequences — is easier said than done. According to Meltzer, one way to boost your confidence is by surrounding

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Rise25 Podcast Spotlight

The Bet That Spawned the Filet-O-Fish Sandwich Inside the McDonald’s History Books

If you’re one of the 68 million people who dine at McDonald's each day, you’re probably familiar with the Filet- O-Fish Sandwich. This simple dish has a contentious history. Ray Kroc, the owner of McDonald’s, hated it. But it reached his menus anyway for one reason: Kroc lost a bet.

"Tiger Performance Podcast" Steve Adams

Featuring: Top online entrepreneurs

"Next Wave Leadership Podcast" Dov Pollack Featuring: Leaders creating great places to work and grow "Watching Paint Dry" Greg Owens Featuring: Today’s top facility managers, property managers, and property owners

Featuring: High-achieving entrepreneurs and coaches "Legends Behind the Craft" Drew Hendricks Featuring: Top leaders in the wine and craft beverage industry "Esq. Marketing Podcast" Matthew Laurin Featuring: Successful solo and SMB law firms

In 1962, McDonald's franchisee Lou Groen masterminded the Filet-O-Fish to appeal to his Catholic customers. But Kroc refused to add it to the menu. He didn’t want his stores to smell like fish! So they made a bet. On Good Friday, select McDonald's put both the Filet-O-Fish and the meatless Hula Burger on the menu. The entree that sold the best stuck around. As you might have guessed, Groen blew Kroc out of the water, selling 350 Filet-O-Fish sandwiches to his six Hula Burgers. Smelly or not, the filet was there to stay!

"Quiet Light Podcast" Joe Valley and Mark Daoust

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Connecting Your Employees to Your Mission Making Your Passions Their Passions

Your business might be doing well, but if your workforce doesn’t feel any sort of personal connection to your business’s mission, that could prevent lasting success. You want to boost employee morale and make them happy about their work. To reinvigorate your employees’ passion for your business’s mission, try a few of these tips. Walk the talk. Patagonia CEO Yvon Chouinard decided to make his products out of organic cotton after he saw how industrially grown cotton was hurting the environment. It cost more to do that, but he stuck to Patagonia’s mission of creating environmentally friendly products. If you’re not willing to sacrifice for your mission, then it’s not your mission — and your employees will know it. Make it clear. Make sure everyone at your company knows exactly what your mission is. Only when employees have a clear understanding of the goal can they actually abide by it. If your mission statement can be interpreted in multiple ways, clarify it throughout all levels of your business. Speak passionately about it. While you want the mission itself to be exciting, even the most intriguing of mission statements will be DOA if your delivery doesn’t convey your excitement. Humans are emotional creatures, so connecting with your employees emotionally in regard to your mission is just as important as the mission itself.

Make it personal. While you might think tying your personal story to the company’s mission seems narcissistic, the truth is that your team wants to hear your story. People like stories, and if you can convey yours with honesty and humility, no one will think you’re an egoist. Re-work it. If your mission doesn’t seem to be inspiring passion in your workforce, then maybe it’s time to tweak it a little bit. Whether you’re just starting in business or have had the same mission statement for 10 years, a new mission lived out, made clear, and made personal by you can spark a newfound appreciation for your business among your employees.

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Inside This Edition

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Mothers With Podcasts

Make Every Decision a Touchdown

The Bet That Spawned the Filet-O-Fish Sandwich Connecting Your Employees to Your Mission

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Why Customer Stories Are Your Best Marketing Tools

Stories are one of the oldest forms of communication. For as long as there has been language, people have used words to spin yarns and convey ideas. Today, when it comes to marketing your products, stories emotionally impact your customers in a way that mere facts never could. How do stories do this? According to behavioral economist and author Peter McGraw, memories are built on associations. When you form a habit, routine, or ritual, you’re essentially creating a new set of associations. Using stories, you can show how customers who use your product or service incorporate it into their rituals. If others see that your product has a benefit, they might be compelled to do the same. Before sharing testimonials of customers using your products willy-nilly, however, there are a few tips that might help you curate the stories your customers share and see. Make your customers the center of the story. Many businesses make their product or their brand the hero of the story, but this isn’t the most effective way to grab your customers’ attention through storytelling. Instead, focusing on your customers, their rituals, and the success they’ve achieved can resonate a lot more powerfully. Of course, you’ll want to make it clear how your product helped them achieve success. How You Can Use Customer Stories To Create a Killer Marketing Campaign

Meet your customers where they are. Find a way to get customer feedback on the products and services your business provides. What do they like about your product? How have those products and services helped them the most? Incorporating this information into your storytelling campaign can also ensure that those stories resonate a lot more with your customers. Ditch the jargon. Always remember to keep your stories short, to the point, and accessible. No customer is going to be interested in reading an eight-page white paper or listen to a testimonial that they can’t understand because it’s so full of industry jargon. That’s the beauty of good storytelling — it can impact anyone, transcending industries.

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Rise25: Helping B2B Businesses Build Profitable Connections